-Foraging Around, Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, July 13,2002 186 Growing Hay Is Now Against The Law? (Continued from Page 1) and internal adversaries. Last week an appeals court of the United States of Ameri ca has found that our pledge of allegiance is offensive and unconstitutional. Fortunately and reassuringly, there is a groundswell of incredulous disbelief that this occurred and a national sense that the ruling will not be allowed to stand. Environmental law is being used as a vehicle to comman deer private property without just compensation. The exam ples are numerous, the farmer who lost his farm because of some endangered field rat, or the farming community that lost their crops for a number of seasons because they could not irrigate due to the poten tial damage to a fish habitat. Soon even your pickup truck may be a thing of the past, thanks to environmental con cerns. The list could continue for pages. STEEL B B B' • Extra Heavy Rub Rail • Quick Release Side Opening Farm Gates Made To Your Si GAP HILL FARM WAGONS BY: Call Bet. 8:30 & 9:00 A.M. 5549 Lincoln Hwy. - Gap, PA 17527 717-442-9489 Here in Pennsylvania we often see these infringements as a faraway problem. Most times it is some one else’s headache. Not any more. On July 1, Lynn Township, Lehigh County, informed me and my family, by letter, that a 12-acre field of timothy that has not yet been mowed for hay violates township ordi nances. The body of the letter follows: Dear Ms. Pergosky, It has been brought to our attention that you are in vi olation of Township Ordi nance # 86-2, Otherwise known as the “weed control ordinance of the Township of Lynn”. This ordinance re quires that the property owners do not allow vegeta tion to exceed a height of 12” and must mow by June Ist and August 15th annual ly* Failure to mow this vege tation, weeds and grass, could result in fines and • Available In Wood Or All Steel • Also: will fit sides onto your flat wagon * Tandem Rake Hitches • E BOXES tecifications penalties being levied by Lynn Township. Please attend to this mat ter and have your property mowed within IS days of re ceipt of this notice to avoid prosecution. Sincerely, (signed by ad ministrator.) This letter sent a cold chill through my body on one of the hottest days of the year. If this field of timothy hay violates the ordinance, so does each and every other field that I harvest for hay. So does the growing of com, wheat, oats, soybeans, and virtually all other crops. Does this ordinance put me out of business? What about my neighbors ibe benefit other agendas, are they too in violation of inhibit our display of a this ordinance? Locally we are belief in God on whose prind a large agricultural commu- pies this nation was founded, nity. Our nonfarm neighbors All this is disguised as protec have joined up in a loud and tion of a vaguely defined, or self rightous cry for farmland unidentified, potentially in preservation. However, absent jured, third party, in need of from their refrain are con- protection from good, hard- HOOBER AND MfIWITOU YOUR SILAGE SOLUTION > Designed Specifically for Agriculture > Highest Hydraulic Capacities on the Market: Load-Sensing - 38 GPM with 3900 PSi, Excellent for Trench Silage De-Facing The Manitou Line of Telescoping Loaders Now available at Hoober! cents about farmer preserva tion. I have written the township asking them to clarify their position, hoping that I have misread their notice of viola tion. To be fair, they haven’t had time yet to respond, but I think the notice is clear. Our various bodies of gov ernment have grown into a position which allows them to tell us when to mow our grass, take our property rights for manUdu working, and honest individu als. I grew up believing that the United States of America was the best place in the world in which to live. I still believe that. With freedom comes a responsibility to protect the rights and freedoms guaran teed to us by our venerable constitution. Many have given the ultimate sacrifice of their lives, protecting freedoms we as a nation have been enjoying for the past 226 years. We need not rise up in arms but in voice to decry the injustices to ourselves and our neighbors. This is what I believe is meant when we used to be able to say: ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. >► Shuttle Shift Torque Converter 4-Speed FWD/REV > Power and Precision > Center-Mount Engine Stability > Air Conditioned > High-Quality Perkins Engines > Easy Maintenance > Excellent Visibility
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers